LTE Networks Must Thwart Security Threats, Says Vitesse

CTO Martin Nuss Tells MEF Audience That Securing Macro and Small Cell
Devices, Networks, and Timing Will Be Key to Securing LTE Networks

December 09, 2014 11:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time

SEOUL, South Korea--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Recent analyst reports forecast the total number of LTE connected
devices shipped worldwide will exceed 1.89 billion devices by the end of
2019, exposing mobile security threats as one of the weakest links in
network security. Speaking to a packed audience at the MEF “Carrier
Ethernet 2.0 Revolution” seminar, Vitesse
Semiconductor CTO Dr. Martin Nuss advocated a holistic approach to
mobile security that encompasses the network infrastructure,
applications and network synchronization.

“No single security scheme can solve all potential vulnerabilities”

Dr. Nuss noted that mobile network air interface links are always
encrypted by default, as mandated by 3GPP, but applications may not be.
Even if they are, the infrastructure itself needs to be secured to begin
with, including network timing, which is vital to the operation of
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and future 5G networks. Mobile networks, with the
widespread use of small cells needed for improving LTE and LTE-A
capacity, are inherently less secure due to their accessibility at
street-level. He continued that the ideal way to secure these links is
to encrypt at the lowest layer possible in the OSI stack. IEEE 802.1AE
MACsec, which works at Layer 2, protects not only the route and network
timing, but also enables link and device authentication. Dr. Nuss
highlighted the link/device layer as particularly vulnerable, since
street-level cells could easily be swapped out with rogue devices which
could then access the entire network.

“No single security scheme can solve all potential vulnerabilities,”
observed Martin Nuss, CTO at Vitesse. “That’s why it’s imperative to
secure applications, networks anddevices. Authentication,
authorization and accounting, combined with data encryption, are
commonplace for the applications layer. We as an industry now need to
take a more integrated approach to security and apply the same
principles to the network infrastructure and device/link layer. As more
and more ‘things,’ in addition to mobile devices for humans, connect to
LTE networks, these security concerns will become paramount for the
Internet of Things as well.”

Dr. Nuss is a recognized industry expert in Ethernet technology
including timing and synchronization for public and private
communications networks, with over 25 years of technical and management
experience. A fellow of the Optical Society of America and IEEE member,
Dr. Nuss also serves on the board of directors for the Alliance for
Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS).

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in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks or
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respective holders.